John Eschenberg, °®Éñ´«Ã½ Senior Vice President and president of the °®Éñ´«Ã½-led Central Plateau Cleanup Company in Richland, Wash., recently participated in a discussion with representatives from Fukushima Hamadouri, Japan, who are looking to rebuild and revitalize their community following the destruction of a nuclear power plant caused by a 2011 earthquake-induced tsunami.
The meeting, set up by the °®Éñ´«Ã½ longtime partner Tri-City Development Council (TRIDEC), featured representatives from TRIDEC, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and local agriculture who all shared ideas for economic recovery, diversification and expansion in the Fukushima Hamadouri area.
The Japanese delegation has created a sister organization – Fukushima Hamadouri TRIDEC – to emulate the successful framework TRIDEC uses in the Tri-Cities area. The group has partnered with local business, municipal governments, institutions of higher education and other organizations to create a vibrant and thriving community surrounding the Hanford Site.
John Eschenberg, center, recently joined, from left, Jens Rasmussen, AgriNorthwest; David Reeploeg, TRIDEC; Karl Dye, TRIDEC; Mark Triplett, PNNL; Takayuki Nakamura, FH-TRIDEC; and Rina Matsumoto, FH-TRIDEC to discuss ideas for community revitalization in Fukushima Hamadouri, Japan.